Showing posts with label Poetic Asides. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poetic Asides. Show all posts

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Napkin Poetry


Life is like a bowl of mixed nuts:

1. You may be judged by the amount of cashew have.

2. Be patient and the hazel clear.

3. Don't be afraid  to say, "Almond my ways."

4. Don't get caught pecan into the wrong places.

5. If all else fails, escape to Brazil.

Have you ever written napkin poetry? Thanks to Robert Lee Brewer for this prompt on his Poetic Asides blog.  Occasionally, Wordsmith Studio holds a bar napkin poetry evening or weekend.

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Thursday, August 13, 2015

Shielded


Shielded

You are shielded both day and night.
Protected from the falling rain.
The constant pounding that could maim.
The wind that blows with all its might
won't strike you if you just sit tight.
Be patient or you could get hurt.
Be beaten down into the dirt.
Relax and let me be the one
to take the hits so you take none.
Don't worry, you will be all right.

This is one version of a poetic form known as decima. There are 10 eight-syllable lines and the rhyme scheme is: ABBAACCDDC. Thanks to Robert Lee Brewer for discussing this form on his blog, Poetic Asides. Click the link  to read more about decima.





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Thursday, July 30, 2015

No Stopping Us


No Stopping Us

We are blind to
the big red sign.
Some slow down
to a crawl.
Some don't cut
speed at all,
just glance both
ways and keep going.
Be alert. Two ways
or four ways, we're
all coming through.

This poem was inspired by a Wednesday prompt on Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides blog. The prompt was "alert."

Links

Music+Dance+Poetry 7-25-15  
        


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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Green Chipmunks


Green Chipmunks

What if chipmunks
were green?
They would not
be so easily
seen running
across the grass
or lounging in
the lettuce.
They could zig and
zag among the
plants and not
draw attention.
The case is made.
Now, who wants to
pitch Mother Nature?

This poem was written in response to a Wednesday prompt on Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides blog. Click the link to read the formula Robert gave us to come up with a title.

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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

So Noted


So Noted

I was embarrassed
when classmates asked
to borrow my notes.
They were hard to
read and only meant
for use by me.
They were keys that
triggered what had been said.
I kept that in my head.

That system no longer
works for me.
My memory isn't as good
as it used to be and
I can never find the keys.

This poem was written in response to the prompt "learning" on Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides blog. Robert provides a prompt every Wednesday.



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Thursday, April 2, 2015

I Challenge You



April is National Poetry Month, a celebration that was started in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets.  The Academy has a 30 Ways to Celebrate list on its website that provides a variety of ways to engage with poetry.

For poets, this month is a special time to practice their craft. There are many writing challenges available to get the creative juices flowing. I participate in the Poem-A-Day Challenge on Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides blog. 

As I was getting ready to write this blog post, it occurred to me that the writing challenges could also be valuable to people who say they don't understand or can't connect to poetry. You won't quite get to look over the poets' shoulders as they write, but you'll be pretty close.

For the PAD Challenge, first read the prompt. This is the starting point for each of the poets. Next, you will be able to read hundreds of poems that are the result of this same prompt. I think you will be surprised by the variety of the poems both in form and subject. Some poets will submit multiple poems for the same prompt that are very different from each other. I bet that you will find several to which you relate because they are talking about an experience similar to one you have had, something that happens every day.

I challenge you to participate in a poetry challenge this month either by writing or reading. If you have links to other challenges please feel free to leave them in the comments.


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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Explore Poetry


Today is the first day of April and that means it's the first day of National Poetry Month. The Academy of American Poets started National Poetry Month in 1996 as a vehicle to spotlight the art, poets past and present, and poetry publications.

This year, I'd like you to think about exploring poetry this month. How? Here are a few ideas:

1. Search for poetry about subjects that interest you. I think you will be surprised to see what turns up. In February, I was asked to read a classic love poem at an event. I did a search for jazz love poems and found my way to this beautiful piece by Langston Hughes:

Juke Box Love Song   

2. Look into the history of poetry in your community. Perhaps you will find a connection to a well-known poet or simply a local poet whose work you enjoy. I found out that Lucille Clifton was born in a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y., as was I. There is about a 14-year span during which we lived there at the same time.

3. Check out your current local poetry scene. What are the literary organizations in your area? What venues hold poetry readings? Do bookstores or libraries carry books by local poets?

4. Is National Poetry Month celebrated in your community? In the metropolitan Kansas City (Mo) area, the Johnson County (KS) Library and The Writers Place partner to present a Poem-A-Day on the library's website in April. Here is the link to the program:


This is just one of the ways National Poetry Month is celebrated in my area. Find out if there are any activities in your area, then join in!

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How do you like to explore poetry?

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Otis Redding

For me, nothing evokes memories like music. When Robert Lee Brewer gave the prompt "knock on wood" on his Poetic Asides blog in March, it was natural for me to think of the song by that name. I knew it from one of my Otis Redding albums. Voila! I had the makings of a poem.

 
Otis

Knock on wood*
Maybe the dock
of the bay#
You had no
time to waste.
The crash
took it away.
Still, the music lasts,
from vinyl
to CD
to downloads.
Well past the time
you had to knock,
knock on wood.

*Knock on Wood by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper
#Sitting on the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper

What is your favorite kind of music? Do you ever write about it?
 
Related Posts
 
 
 
 
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Thursday, November 29, 2012

PAD Week Four-No More

The end of the 2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge  is upon us! Tomorrow is the 30th and final day.
 
I'll miss having a new prompt served up first thing each morning. Thanks to all of the poets who shared a prompt for this month's challenge. This was a new twist. I enjoyed being introduced to members of the Poetic Asides community this way and look forward to continue visiting some new blogs.
 
I also hope to keep the writing momentum going by providing my own prompts. I have a long list of ideas that I've been keeping. Now its time to start crossing them off the list by turning them into poems.
 
A few of the prompts this month involved using lines from poems by other poets or from other poems we had written. That reminded me that I have some random lines and groups of lines in a list and in various notepads. They should keep me busy, too.
 
Of course, it would be nice to have a prompt from someone else every so often. Fortunately, Robert Lee Brewer provides a prompt on Poetic Asides each Wednesday. He also sneaks in a form challenge every so often. Thanks, Robert.
 
Following is my favorite poem from this challenge. I think it is my favorite because it is about a topic and place that have become very special to me through poetry.
 

Still Sweatin’

the music they say is dead was so alive, it sweated.-Mbembe Milton Smith

The music still sweats
in a familiar place
a room known as blue
in the mecca of
18th and Vine
in a building that
keeps it alive
where the greats
are enshrined
and a new generation
gets it start
 
Congratulations to all the writers who participated in a writing challenge this month! What did you take away from your challenge?
 
Give the following link a click:
 
The Big Yellow Taxi Tour from Lara Britt's Writing Space (This is a must read for Joni Mitchell fans!)

Take a Picture-Seasonal Songs
 
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Thursday, November 15, 2012

PAD Week Two-Halfway Through

Wow! It is hard to believe we are already halfway through the 2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge on Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides blog.  I still feel like I am keeping up better than I did with my first challenge in April. I have been trying to stick with the technique of writing about the prompt until I write my way to a poem. This seems to work for me.
 
This week, we called on dead poets, wrote from the perspective of veterans and about technology we don't have. I wrote about jazz, a memory from high school and time travel. We also were challenged to use a word from a different language as a title or in the body of a poem. A word immediately came to my mind because I learned it from another poet and friend.

Un Abrazo

A hug sends a message
through the arms and hands
right down to the fingertips.
Welcome-arms that have been
spread in anticipation
thoroughly engulf the recipient.
Swaying may be involved.
Congratulations-there is a
firmness to this hug that says,
“You did it!”
Consolation-the two participants
truly hold on to each other.
There may be a reluctance or
an inability to let go.
Love-The one message sent
by every hug.


Click here to read other responses to this prompt.

And, don't forget to go to Wordsmith Studio's Weekly Photo Prompt

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Thursday, November 8, 2012

PAD-Week One Done

One week and seven poems into the 2012 November Poem-A-Day Chapbook Challenge at Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides blog. This month, I am a veteran challenger as opposed to the rookie I was in April. I think I have benefited from the experience.

I seem to have more patience with the tasks at hand. I don't get stressed if I don't have an idea as soon as I read the prompt, which I do in the morning. At least once, I didn't have an idea until late evening; but I wasn't anxious about it. Definitely, a change for the positive.

A couple of Wordsmith Studio friends, Linda G. Hatton and Veronica Roth, stopped by Tueday's Photo post and mentioned that the photo fit with the PAD prompts to write a "left" poem and a "right" poem. I took their suggestion and wrote the following:

Right Turn

The right road isn’t
paved with perfection.
It bends and dips and
sometimes closes for repairs.
Detours take us out of our way,
but eventually bring us back
to our path of choice, both
weary and wiser.

On to week two. Stop by the challenge and see the prompts and the works they have inspired. Join in the writing and/or the reading!


Related Post-Wordsmith Studio's Weekly Photo Prompt


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